Tubular lantern



April 1937- R. A. CURRIE 2,078,125

TUBULAR LANTERN Filed Feb. 18, 1935 Registered Apr. 20, 1937 LANTERN Robert A. Currie, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor to R. E. Dietz Company, New York, N. Y.

Application February 18, 1935, Serial No. 7,030

1. Claim.

This invention relates more particularly to improvements in tubular lanterns of the well known cold blast type, in which the air tubes at the sides of the lantern which supply air to the burner are connected at their upper ends with an air chamber surrounding the lantern chimney. The air which passes through the air tubes to the burner enters the tubes through this air chamber, which ordinarily is open at its lower and upper end for admission of the air. In lanterns having openings at the top of the air chamber, the upper end wall of the air chamber is commonly made of conical or tapering form, and the upper air openings are formed in this conical wall so that the openings face more or less laterally outward.

One object of my invention is to construct the air chamber of such lanterns so as to improve the operation and efliciency of the lantern as well as improve, strengthen and simplify its construeo the well known down draft principle applicable to all chimneys; and also to provide a construction which has the other features of advantage and improvement hereinafter described and set forth in the claim.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figs. 1 and 2 are elevations of the upper portions of lanterns embodying my invention and respectively illustrating a long globe and a short globe lantern.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, enlarged, of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan thereof on lines 4-4, Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a section through one side of the air chamber on line 5-5, Fig. 4.

l0 represents the lantern chimney, H the shell or air chamber surrounding the chimney, and I2 the air tubes, which are connected at their upper ends to the side walls of the air chamber and communicate with the latter for the passage of air therefrom to the burner. As usual, in lanterns of this type, the air tubes stationarily support the air chamber II from the oil font or base portion of the lantern, and the chimney, which extends up from the globe, is movable vertically through the air chamber to secure and release the globe, the chimney being held yieldingly down against the upper end of the globe by a spring [3 surrounding the chimney and abutting at its lower and upper ends respectively against a shoulder or other part of the chimney and against the upper end or other part of the air chamber. i4 is the usual cap or top surmounting the chimney, which is provided beneath this cap with lateral openings 5 for the escape of the gases or products of combustion from the chimney. The chimney is also shown as provided with a circumferential series of holes IE which establish communication between the interior of the chimney and the air chamber. A portion of the hot air or gases ascending through the chimney can pass through these holes l6 into the air chamber. A sleeve or ring I! loosely surrounds the chimney within the air chamber leaving a narrow annular air passage [8 between the sleeve and the chimney, and the sleeve is provided at its upper end with an outwardly projecting annular flange l9 which contacts with and is secured at its outer edge to the cylindrical wall of the air chamber. This sleeve cooperates with the upper end of the air chamber to guide the chimney in its vertical movements, and its flange I9, which is located at about the midheight of openings from the air chamber into the air tubes, divides the air chamber into upper and lower portions, each of which thus communicates with the air tubes, see Fig. 3. Thus, fresh air can enter the open, lower end of the air chamber and pass into the air tubes, and heated air entering the air chamber above the partition through the holes IS in the chimney, is also adapted to pass into the air tubes. As thus far described the lantern is of known construction.

At its upper end, the air chamber is formed with an annular top wall 20 which preferably extends substantially horizontally inward from the cylindrical wall of the chamber and is provided with a down-turned inner edge 2| which slidably fits the chimney, thereby cooperating with the sleeve ll in guiding the movements of the chimney. This top wall of the air chamber is provided near the chimney with openings 22 through which air can enter or escape from the upper end of the air chamber. Preferably these openings 22 are formed by pressing or bending the flanged inner edge of the top wall of the air chamber so that the openings are, in! effect, spaced slots in the flanged inner edge of the top wall 20. This formation of the top wall of the air chamber greatly stiffens and strengthens the upper end of the air chamber and provides a downturned flange which forms a smooth guide for the chimney and there are no exposed, sharp or raw edges which can rust and detract from the appearance of the lantern. In addition, this formation locates the slots or openings 22 at the inner edge of the top wall, immediately adjacent the chimney and removed to the maximum distance inwardly from the outer edge of the air chamber. The openings 22 are thus located beneath and a substantial distance inwardly from the outer edge of the usual overhanging cap 14 which projects laterally outward from the upper end of the chimney. The periphery of the cap therefore extends out over and far enough beyond the openings 22 to provide an efficient shield "to Pprevent entrance of rain through the openings 22'. Furthermore, the openings 22, instead of facing more or less outwardly, as they do when formed in a conical or upwardly tapering wall, as heretofore, open vertically through the substantially flat top of the air chamber, and drafts or air currents cannot blow directly into the openings 22. On the contrary, external wind or drafts will cause more or less horizontal currents across the openings 22 in the annular space between the top of the air chamber and the overlying cap, thereby producing more or less of a ventilator or chimney action to draw air out through the opening 22. Air currents entering through the openings 22 will therefore be more or less deflected and the velocity thereof checked or impeded so that strong drafts cannot blow through the openings and down through the air tubes or the chimney and objectionably affect the flame.

The constructions shown in Figs land 2 are substantially the same, except that the first construction shows the application of the invention toa long or high globe lantern in which the chimney is shorter and fits the small, upper end of a tall globe, whereas the modification of Fig. 2 illustrates the application of the invention toa short globe lantern in which the chimney I is longer and is provided with an outwardly flaring 'or enlarged, lower end 25 adapted to engage the large, upper end of the usual short globe.

I claim as my invention:

In a tubular lantern, the combination of a chimney, an air chamber surrounding the chimney, and an air tube connecting with said air chamber between its upper and lower ends, said air chamber having an air inlet at its lower por-' tion below its connection with said air tube, and an annular top wall provided with a downwardly flanged inner edge fitting the chimney, said flanged inner edge being bent or corrugated to form air openings at the inner edge of the upper end of the air chamber.

ROBERT A. CURRIE. 

